Obama Grants Waivers to NCLB and Makes a Bad Situation Worse

The president correctly sees that No Child Left Behind forces teaching to the test. But so do his solutions to that problem.

Secretary Arne Duncan is right about the No Child Left Behind law: It is an unmitigated disaster. Signed into law a decade ago by President George W. Bush, NCLB is widely despised for turning schools into testing factories. By mandating that every student in the nation would be “proficient” by 2014, as judged by state tests, it set a goal that no nation in the world has ever met, and that no state in this nation is close to meeting. The goal is laudable but out of reach. It’s comparable to Congress mandating that every city, town, and village in the nation must be crime-free by 2014 ... or their police departments would be severely punished.

NCLB is the worst federal education law ever passed. About half of all public schools in the nation have been stigmatized as “failing” because they couldn’t meet its utopian mandates, and the proportion is certain to grow every year. In Massachusetts, the nation’s highest performing state, 81 percent of the state’s schools are officially “failing” by the standards of NCLB. No national legislature

NPE Endorses Chuy Garcia for Mayor of Chicago

NPE Board President,Diane Ravitch says, “Chuy Garcia is a real reformer. His reforms will restore democracy in education; will restore true education–not test scores–as the center of school life; and prioritize the needs of children, not data.”

Network for Public Education endorses Chuy Garcia for Mayor of Chicago, and asks you to support him in any way you can – by voting for him, volunteering in the next few weeks or donating to his campaign.

Sunday The War Report on Public Education with Dr James Avington Miller Jr

Common Core Today – Back to the Future

Dr. James Avington Miller Jr. and The War Report on Public Education radio show begin a series exposing the dangers of the Common Core. Joining us for this series is Dr.Deborah Duncan Owens. Here is a short taste of what is in store for our listeners:

The War Report on Public Education with Dr James Avington Miller Jr

EduBloggers edubloggers.org/

The Education Bloggers Network is an informal confederation of more than 200 education reporters, advocacy journalists, investigative bloggers, and commentators. Members of the Education Bloggers Network are dedicated to providing parents, teachers, public education advocates and the public with the truth about public education in the United States and the efforts of the corporate education reform industry.

As Diane Ravitch noted in a post about the Education Bloggers Network, “If you blog and if you support public education as a pillar of our democracy, consider joining the Education Bloggers Network.”

To become part of the Education Bloggers Network contact Jonathan Pelto, founder and manager of the Network atjonpelto@gmail.com

Click on picture to Listen to Diane Ravitch

Diane Ravitch Website

Corporate Media = Corporate Lies

DON'T BUY IT!

Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991

Charter Schools - Dividing Communities since 1991

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS Website

CHARTER SCHOOL SCANDALS

A compilation of news articles about charter schools which have been charged with, or are highly suspected of, tampering with admissions, grades, attendance and testing; misuse of funds and embezzlement; engaging in nepotism and conflicts of interest; engaging in complicated and shady real estate deals; and/or have been engaging in other questionable, unethical, borderline-legal, or illegal activities. This is also a record of charter school instability and other unsavory tidbits.